4 plead guilty in health care fraud scheme

NEW ORLEANS - A Jan. 5 sentencing date has been set in New Orleans for four people who pleaded guilty in a health care conspiracy case.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said in a Wednesday news release that the four were part of a scheme involving the distribution of Medicare-funded "talking glucose meters" to people who didn't need them.

They operated corporations in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie and in Chatsworth, California.

Those who pleaded guilty were identified in the news release as 48-year-old Geoffrey Ricketts, 38-year-old Marla Ricketts and 41-year-old Samuel Kim, all of Porter Ranch, California; and 40-year-old Sunyup Kim of Granada Hills, California. Each faces a possible maximum prison sentence of 10 years.